Otto Dreyer (architect)

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Entrance facade of the Lucerne Central Library, 1951

Otto Dreyer (born April 25, 1897 in Lucerne ; † November 18, 1972 in Lucerne) was a Swiss architect .

education

Dreyer studied at the ETH Zurich from 1914 , where he obtained his diploma in 1919. At the same time he did his active service from 1914 to 1918 , which he finished as an artillery officer. In the following two years he expanded his knowledge in Berlin with Bruno Möhring , he then went to Paris for a year to Jean Pelée de Saint-Maurice and made study trips to Italy.

Professional career and work

Back in Lucerne, he worked for Armin Meili from 1924 to 1927 before setting up his own office in his hometown. In 1958 he took in Hans Käppeli as a partner, who continued to run the office after his death.

Dreyer devoted himself to the construction of churches, as a founding member of the Swiss St. Luke Society for Art and Church he took an active part in competitions and built a total of nine churches and chapels. His first published work in 1924 was a design for a concrete church shown in Basel , and he won third place in the widely acclaimed competition for the parish church of St. Karl throughout Switzerland . He then built the Catholic Church of St. Theodul in Littau (1938) and, already one of his main works, St. Josef in Lucerne's Maihof district (1940). During the Second World War, the Guthirt Catholic Church in Aarburg followed (1941–1942) and, in the 1950s, the Bruderklauskirche in Kriens (1952–1953).

His main work is the central library in Lucerne , originally designed for a building site next to the Jesuit church, the current location in the Hirschmatt district was only found after a petition to keep the now suddenly visible side facade free. Behind the “defiant block of the book magazine, which was sensibly placed parallel to Hirschmattstrasse”, there is a subtle composition of catalog and reading room around the intimate garden. This building is generally praised for measure and harmony - the music lover and supporter explicitly orientated himself on the writings of Hans Kayser - and the "neat detailing"; it «reveals the culturally conscious subtlety of the architect who was also an instrument maker.»

Dreyer supported and preserved the municipal collection of old musical instruments in Tribschen with energy, he was on the organizing committee of the International Musical Festival Weeks until 1965 and on the working committee of the Lucerne Conservatory.

Works (selection)

  • Stocker-Dreyer House , Lucerne, 1928
  • Martha Flüeler-Häfeli House , Lucerne, 1928
  • Labhart House , Lucerne, 1929
  • Paulusheim , Lucerne, 1933
  • St. Theodul , Catholic Church, Littau (now Lucerne), 1938–1939
  • Otto Dreyer House , St. Niklausen (today Horw ), 1939
  • Landi-Hotel Swiss National Exhibition , Zurich, 1939 (canceled)
  • St. Josef , Catholic Church, Lucerne, 1940
  • Guthirt , Catholic Church, Aarburg 1941–1942
  • Central Library , Lucerne, 1951
  • Brother Klaus Church , Kriens, 1952–1953
  • Main building , Swiss Museum of Transport , 1st construction phase, 1959 (with Hans Käppeli)

literature

  • Fabrizio Brentini: Otto Dreyer . In: Isabelle Rucki and Dorothee Huber (eds): Architects Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century Basel: Birkhäuser 1998. S. 149. ISBN 3-7643-5261-2
  • Hans Schürch: Otto Dreyer . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung vol. 91 (1973) issue 9 p. 230 online

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Linus Birchler: Church art in Catholic Switzerland. In: Das Werk, B. 15 (1928) issue 12 pp. 388-390, doi : 10.5169 / seals-15231
  2. ↑ Cf. Linus Birchler: Betonkirchen. In: Das Werk, B. 13 (1926) Issue 1 pp. 20-26, doi : 10.5169 / seals-81724
  3. ^ Result in work vol. 17 (1931) p. XXIII
  4. ↑ a b Christa Zeller: Swiss architecture guide; Volume 1: Northeast and Central Switzerland. Zurich: Werk Verlag 1996. p. 263. ISBN 3-909145-11-6
  5. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Otto Dreyer . In: Isabelle Rucki and Dorothee Huber (eds): Architects Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century p. 149
personal data
SURNAME Dreyer, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss architect
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1972
Place of death Lucerne